Press Releases

23rd November 2021:London, United Kingdom. Is it time for us to clean up our language? New research from CCleaner has found that on average Brits swear at their digital devices at least three times a day, and that’s just what they remember. 72% admit to swearing at their devices, with 98% of these doing so at least once a day. The research of 2,000 UK consumers forms part of CCleaner’s CCleanItUp campaign. 

So, what is causing Brits to direct profanity at their phones, computers and tablets on a regular basis? The research shows the top five reasons are: 

1. Device freezing or crashing - 33%
2. Unreliable Wi-Fi (3/4/5G) - 25%
3. Unexpected errors, restarts and updates - 24%
4. Running out of battery power - 23%
5. Running out of storage or memory - 18%

Of those who do swear at their devices, one in ten have done so in front of their boss, 16% have cursed in front of their colleagues, and 6% went as far as admitting to using bad language in front of their clients. 

These tech issues are not only causing people to use bad language, 31% claim that it makes them less productive at work, and 24% said it makes their day job more stressful. However, despite this negative impact, nearly half (43%) of all research respondents have never taken any steps to clean or optimise their devices. Of those that did use software to optimise their devices, only one in four (27%) chose to do this once a week.

David Peterson, General Manager at CCleaner comments: "Whether it’s for work or entertainment, we’re reliant on our devices, so it’s no surprise that glitchy devices and slow speeds can cause us to curse more often than we would like to admit – let alone add additional and unnecessary stress to our everyday lives. At CCleaner, we are committed to making it easy for people to get the best performance from their devices for longer — reducing the need to use any expletives!”

As part of its CCleanItUp campaign, CCleaner customers have cleaned up some of the most famous movie lines of all time by replacing swear words with cleaner alternatives - including infamous quotes from Pulp Fiction, Die Hard and Snakes on a Plane. Submissions include:

• ‘Yippe ki yay temporary files!’ - Die Hard
• ‘You were only supposed to blow the dented doors off!’ - The Italian Job
• ‘I've had it with these foul mouthed snakes on this PG-13 plane!’ - Snakes on a plane
• ‘If any of you fish tacos move, I'll execute every corn-grinding last one of you!’ - Pulp Fiction
• ‘Frankly my Dear, I don’t give a byte.’ - Gone with the Wind
• ‘Go CClean yourself, San Diego! Let's make you sparkle!’ - Anchorman

While the suggestions are humorous, the majority of consumers agree that some things are best left uncleaned – nearly three in four respondents (72%) stated that they were happy with the use of swearing in movies or TV shows as long as it’s age appropriate. 

CCleaner offers consumers some simple advice on how to keep their tech-induced profanity to a minimum:

• Free up some wasted hard drive space: Normal computer hard drives require spare space to work at their best. In fact, having more than 10GB of free space is ideal to keep things running smoothly, and don’t forget your smartphone or tablet can slow down from overloaded storage too. Junk files can stack up over time as you use your favourite devices.
• Check for unnecessary programs launching during system startup: Unnecessary programs automatically launching when your device starts up can waste precious processing power. Download software which allows you to see how many programs are having an impact on your device’s startup, and adjust them.
• See if you’re holding on to any old, unused software: Abandoned creative projects, video game files or redundant MP3 music accounts stored away in the background on your device can be easy to forget about and will slow down your device. Finding and deleting these inessential programs or apps frees up valuable hard drive space. 
• Ensure all your software is up to date: Updates can fix glitches and secure your device against any security weaknesses that might exist. 
• Keep your drivers updated: Driver software supports critical elements of your PC, including your sound and graphics, so it’s important they’re kept up to date to keep things running smoothly.
• Download and run CCleaner: downloaded over 2.5 billion times, CCleaner makes it easy to keep computers clean, fast, secure and stable. It’s built to quickly and easily remove unnecessary junk files taking up valuable space, delete browsing data to boost privacy, and update software and drivers to enhance security and keep critical parts of a PC running smoothly. Download it for free at CCleaner.com. 

Notes to editors:

Methodology

We also conducted a survey (Censuswide) with 2,000 UK respondents (internet users) to understand patterns of bad language when using digital devices.

Link to image: https://cdn-production.ccleaner.com/site/ehjhes4z/ccleaner-cclean-it-up.jpg

About CCleaner

CCleaner was founded in 2004 and is a global leader in system optimization software with hundreds of millions of home and business users worldwide. Its portfolio of software tools optimizes computing performance, improves security and extends the useful life of hardware.

A CCleaner product is installed more than 23 million times a month and active CCleaner users exist in every single country worldwide. For more information, please visit: www.ccleaner.com

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